The City of Phoenix is surprisingly accessible in terms of
being able to speak to officials personally. Of course there is a particular
way of going about it, but it is not too much trouble.
An example is speaking with city planning. There is a clear
and concise way of moving through lines quickly to speak with a representative
to get proper permits and ask any questions.
The city has a great website that is easy to navigate and
also very informative. There are bright big areas to link all kinds of
information to the public. This was a big factor for me to intern here because
I believe the government should be very open in its operations. On the
homepage, there is direct access to schedules for all meetings and takes place
of public posting of these meetings. What is also really nice about this calendar
of events is the links I provides to all documentation needed to be educated
about the particular meeting.
The way the city organized its tabs makes it to where
residents of Phoenix can look up their areas of interest well before physically
having to come to city hall. I have seen that it makes for less time wasted and
a better atmosphere in the building.
Most importantly, the adherence to closed-meeting laws is
extremely prevalent in this organization and is shown especially between
council members in the city council meetings.
From this screenshot of the Phoenix website, city business is clearly shown to the public.
I love the city's website!
ReplyDeleteI also intern at City Hall (in the Mayor's office) and I use that helpful website all the time. It's great for finding meetings or general information/contacts for the departments. From reading some of your blog posts it looks like you've been having an awesome and immersive experience so far.
Hi Derek! I am glad to hear that you are having a good experience with the city of Phoenix during your internship. I agree with you and value openness and honesty as well. I am particularly impressed with organizations who take the time to make their website user friendly. It shows that they want citizens to be able to access and understand the information they put out there. This means that the site is educational as well as informative. I respect that. Daphne
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